Peace before daybreak

If I had it my way, there would be 30 hours in a day (the extra 6 being for nothing but sleeping).

There always seems to be so much going on whether its school, work, hobbies, life... anything and everything.

(School and work are both big consumers of time in my life).

I am involved a lot with my church, and I love it.

By being involved in church ministry I have seen many people get burnt out, including myself in the past.
A burnout is a scary spot to be in. A lonely spot to be in.

Maybe your not in ministry, but the weight of life and its complications and responsibilities burn you out.

How can you/me/we avoid these burnouts?

I read something in Mark that really helped me with this-

Mark chapter one describes Jesus' life right after he was baptized. His life seemed to be a nonstop marathon of busyness for the first 34 verses in this chapter. He was constantly meeting new people, traveling around, teaching, preaching, healing, etc.

Then what almost seems like a random verse stuck in the middle of all the busyness is in verse 35 when it says,

"before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray." (NLT)

His life (ministry) had picked up, people were coming to hear and see him everyday. They were treating him almost like a celebrity. Life seemed like it should have been chaotic for him, but it wasn't. He should have been burnt out, but he wasn't.

Life can get that way sometimes; crazy and chaotic, like a nonstop roller coaster ride.

When Jesus should have been on the verge of a burn out what did he do?
He didn't get consumed with the chaos. He didn't complain to the people around him.

He woke up early and spent some time alone with God.

Before daybreak while everything was still dark and quiet.
All the people were asleep, no-one/no-thing was on his agenda.

That is what we need to do when life is crazy, when a burnout seems imminent: before daybreak, while everything is still quiet and peaceful, spend some time with God.
It's therapeutic, honest, helpful, peaceful...